HTC One E8 release date and price

The HTC One E8 release date is pegged for "early June in select markets." What are those "select markets" we hear you scream - well it's China for now, but HTC has told us the One E8 will be coming to other countries later on.

It's not clear what those countries will be, but a HTC One E8 price has been revealed in Beijing.

The HTC One E8 has been confirmed at 2799 Chinese Yuan - that's around $450, £270, AU$480 - and makes the handset incredibly good value.

If the One E8 does make its way to the likes of the US and UK the prices will be a little steeper than the conversions thanks to taxes, but it's still on track to undercut the One Mini 2.

HTC One E8 design

It's the design of the One E8 which is the major talking point here, as HTC has ditched the premium metal unibody in favor of a polycarbonate chassis.

The immediate advantage here is a lighter material resulting in the One E8 tipping the scales at 145g - that's a decent bit lighter than the 160g One M8.

Although it may not weigh as much, the One E8 is slightly thicker at 146.42 x 70.67 x 9.85mm (compared to the 9.4mm M8), but that's unlikely to be overly noticeable.

Front-on and the HTC One E8 looks very similar to its brother with the dual Boomsound speakers above and below the display and the front facing camera and sensors also located in the same place.

Up top the power/lock key has been shifted to the center, while it appears the IR blaster which adorned the One M8 has been removed on the E8.

You'll still find the microUSB and headphone jack on the base of the device, while the volume key sits on the right below the microSD tray.

Meanwhile the nanoSIM tray sits on the left, and the HTC One E8 is a dual-SIM handset.

Round the back the One E8 is styled more towards the Desire 816, with a unbroken polycarbonate rear.

There's the HTC logo, camera and flash but that's your lot. That's right just one camera, which leads us nicely onto...

HTC One E8 camera

After design the second big difference on the HTC One E8 is the rear facing camera. While the One M8 had HTC's new Duo Camera feature, the fancy depth tech hasn't made it to the E8.

Instead HTC has furnished the One E8 with a 13MP snapper - a camera the Taiwanese firm appears to have fallen in love with as it can also been found on the One Mini 2 and Desire 816.

Some people will be happy to see the back of the ultrapixel offering on the M8, with a more straightforward shooter on the One E8, but this does mean you lose all the clever effects which came with Duo Camera.

Round the front the One E8 sticks with the selfie-tastic 5MP camera from the M8, and both front and back options can record in 1080p.

HTC One E8 display

The good news from now on is the HTC One E8 keeps pretty much everything from the One M8, and that includes the full HD, 5-inch LCD 3 display.

That means you can expect a 441ppi pixel density on the One E8, making it ever so slightly sharper than the 5.1-inch Galaxy S5 and 5.2-inch Xperia Z2.

HTC One E8 power

You'll also find the now familiar quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor inside the One E8, along with 2GB of RAM which gives the handset plenty of grunt.

That means it will be able to run Android KitKat and the Sense 6 overlay smoothly, providing exactly the same experience as you get with the M8.

In terms of storage you get 16GB inside, plus the option to expand with a microSD card up to 128GB in size.

HTC One E8 operating system

As we've already mentioned the HTC One E8 comes running Android 4.4 KitKat with the firm's Sense 6 overlay - just like the M8.

That means you'll benefit from the likes of Blinkfeed and Motion Launch, so while the exterior of the E8 may be very different to the M8 - the onscreen action looks to be identical.

HTC One E8 battery

We were truly impressed with the battery life of the One M8, and the HTC One E8 looks set to follow in its footsteps with the same 2600mAh power pack.

Combined with the same power and display, we can't see battery life being too different between the two devices, which is fantastic news.

HTC One E8 connectivity

The HTC One E8 is 4G enabled, but it appears only for select markets. As we don't know if the One E8 will make it to the likes of Europe, America and Australia it could be a sign that it may not.

Smartphone standards such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 are present on the One E8, as are NFC, DLNA, a microUSB port and a headphone jack.